


Saturday... In the park

by celticdreamz



Series: Everything's Changed [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 22:01:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2444708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celticdreamz/pseuds/celticdreamz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve manages to get Maria out of her office for an afternoon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saturday... In the park

Bright sunlight reflected off the top of the Chrysler building made it hard if not impossible for Maria to see her computer screens and she threw an irritated look at the window. The warm, sunny weather seemed to mock her for being stuck inside on a perfectly good Saturday afternoon. There was absolutely zero reason for her to be at her desk when the rest of her offices were devoid of any human activity. 

Working on Saturdays had become something of a habit for her while getting settled in at Stark Industries. It was the one time she could really buckle down and focus on Getting Shit Done without constant interruptions. Thank God, Natasha had agreed (if not been "volun-told") to be her new Personal Assistant. Without her running interference, Maria would've been just as likely to shoot someone as meet with them.

Leaning back in her chair, Maria rubbed her face with both hands. Privatizing global security was nowhere near as easy as one Tony Stark believed it to be. A lot of good agents had been burned during the fallout from the HYDRA/SHIELD fiasco, and they were reluctant to trust her again. That was part of why she'd walked away. HYDRA had been allowed to grow and fester like some kind of vile fungus under hers and Fury's collective watch. He was, for all intents and purposes, six feet under while she would've probably been expected to fall on her sword and leave SHIELD anyway. Resigning gave her a chance to give all the politicians she so loathed the proverbial finger before they gave her the boot. But that whole clusterfuck was now someone else's heartburn and, next to Rogers, Coulson was about as trustworthy as they came. 

"You look like you could use a break."

Think of the devil. Bright blue eyes opened to find a white t-shirt and blue jean clad Captain America standing in the doorway. Maria tried to tell herself that the feeling in her stomach was just a side-effect of having skipped lunch, and not because of the boyish, lopsided smile aimed in her direction. Or the fact he looked damn good in a pair of Levis. 

"Steve…"

She couldn't help but watch as he took a seat in one of the chairs facing her desk. In the time since the Attack on New York, he had gained a confidence, a sense of gravitas, that made every head in the room turn towards him. Including hers. 

"You've been avoiding me." His tone may have been teasing, but the look in his eyes wasn't.

"I thought you were out running down Barnes," she responded, almost defensively.

"He's still in the wind," Steve answered, shaking his head. "Tony suggested I try a new strategy. Chasing Bucky isn't going to do a darn bit of good since he, obviously, doesn't want to be found. But, hopefully, if I stay in one place and stay visible, he might come to me."

"Do you think it'll work?"

"Maybe. I don't know, but it's the best option I've got right now." Steve then leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. "And it gives me more time to spend with you.

"Maria, I know you're just using work as an excuse," he continued, staring her point-blank in the eye. "I know, because I used to do it too. Keeping busy with work was my way of hiding, escaping, fooling myself into thinking I didn't need a life. I was wrong, and so are you. Working on weekends isn't going to make me forget what it was like to kiss you or how it felt when you fell asleep next to me in the hospital."

Something of a bashful smile crossed his face when he noticed the slight tinge of pink to her cheeks. "I wasn't kidding when I said I didn't know the first thing about being someone's fella. The closest I've ever been was promising Peggy a dance. Other than that, I'm flying just as blind as you are. I just want you to try."

"You are unreal." Maria shook her head with an expression of disbelief. "I damn near killed you, and you still want to go out with me. I probably searched up and down the Potomac ten times looking for you. I didn't want to believe you were gone. I couldn't believe it. I would've dredged that river with my own two hands every damn day if Barnes hadn't pulled you out."

"Wait…" Steve blinked. "You saw him? You saw Bucky? Why didn't you tell me?"

"There's nothing to tell. You'd already figured out it was him back in the hospital," she answered with a shrug. "Besides, I didn't exactly get a chance to interrogate him. I was fifty yards downstream. All I saw was a figure in black with a silver arm hauling you out of the water by your shoulder strap. By the time I got to you, he was gone. I had to make the judgement call of staying with you or going after him. I couldn't take off with you in the shape you were in. I still have nightmares about that, y'know. "

"About what?" he raised an eyebrow.

Maria swallowed thickly. "You. Not making it out of that river in one piece."

"Why didn't you say something when you came to see me in the hospital?"

"I was too damned relieved to see you alive that I didn't want to think about you being otherwise," she answered. "That and I don't do feelings."

"So, why are you telling me now?"

"Because you're still being a stubborn SOB about me being your girl." There was no heat to her words, but there was a mild teasing.

"And I'm going to keep being a 'stubborn SOB' about it until I get an actual answer." A corner of his lips turned upwards, completely stunning Maria.

"I don't get it." She shook her head again. "I thought you'd never want to see me again after what happened."

The boyish smirk faded into a more serious expression. "Maria, those helicarriers had to come down one way or another. If you hadn't followed my orders, we would be having an entirely different conversation right now."

She didn't doubt that. Steve could be a force to be reckoned with when he was angry. That was part of why she'd backed his decision to tear it all down. That, and she knew from experience, that if SHIELD was to be an effective organization again, it had to go back into the shadows.

Again, Maria's eyes followed him as he stood up from the chair and walked around to her side of the desk. Steve then held out a hand to her. "Please, Maria, I just want you to try giving us a chance. I promise I won't hurt you."

There wasn't a person alive who could stomach saying 'no' to Steven Grant Rogers. And if they could, well, they were probably a stone cold psychopath who tortured puppies for fun. Exhaling a sigh, Maria slid her hand into his, and let him gently pull her to her feet. His palm was warm, dry, and callused. It was strong, the way a man's hand should be. She tried to kid herself into thinking that the zing of attraction that sped up her arm was a figment of her imagination.

"C'mon, let's get outta here." 

"Have any ideas?" she asked, after locking her computer.

"Yep," he grinned and offered his arm. 

Maria hesitated for a few seconds and then surprised him by taking it. "Feel like telling me?"

"Nope." Steve's grin widened. "I want it to be a surprise."

She snorted as they walked towards the elevators. "For the record, surprising me could result in bodily harm."

"So noted," he answered and let her enter the elevator first. "Garage level please, JARVIS."

"Of course, Captain Rogers," the disembodied voice of the Tower's AI replied.

The small cabin was soon filled with an awkward silence. Small talk was never one of Maria's strong suits. So, it was Steve who spoke first.

"I always wondered if the AI at the Triskelion was modeled after JARVIS."

"Yes," Maria replied succinctly. "After Stark uploaded the programming to the helicarrier servers, JARVIS discovered more than we wanted. And we realized that having an AI was a good asset."

"Oh?" Steve raised an eyebrow.

"It was JARVIS who figured out the HYDRA threat." A stunned silence filled the elevator. 

"Really…" It was less of a question and more of a statement.

"Tony wasn't happy when Nick told him HYDRA, and I quote, wasn't his problem. It took six months for him to finally read me in on what he called Deep Cover."

"That doesn't surprise me," Steve replied with a wry look.

"You know we couldn't exactly go full court press with it when we found out," she continued. "Fury and I had to play like we were clueless in order to figure out exactly how deep HYDRA ran, and who the key players were."

He crossed his arms and regarded her with a small frown. "I wish you would've trusted me with that."

"It wasn't about trust," Maria replied. "It was about knowing your strengths and weaknesses. You always want to do The Right Thing, and believe me, if more people were like that, this world wouldn't be the cesspool it can be. But your weakness is that you're impatient as hell when it comes to doing said Right Thing. We couldn't risk letting you in too early and knocking over all the dominos before we were ready."

"You think I'm some kind of bull in a china shop?" An eyebrow raised.

"No. You've taught me enough about baseball to know you don't use your best closer in the bottom of the fourth. You bide your time, and see who the opposing team is going to bring in in the bottom of the eighth. Then you shut them down."

"Out," he corrected her, still irritated about the call not to be brought in earlier. "It's called a 'shutout'. And I don't like feeling used."

Maria sighed and leaned back against one of the walls. "Now, do you understand why I kept turning you down? Using people is what I do. Fury taught me who to put where and when for the best possible outcome. It was never anything personal. If I'd wanted a bull in a china shop, I would've called in Banner. Besides, I was under a direct order not to let anyone else in without Fury's okay.

"I get that you're still upset about Fury's call, but the SHIELD you'd joined doesn't exist anymore. So, there's no point in arguing about it. Yes, there have been a lot of lessons learned from what happened with HYDRA. I can't promise I won't make the same mistakes again, but I'll try damn hard not to. Things are going to be different this time."

"How so?"

"Less compartmentalization and more transparency," she replied. "I've argued with Nick for years about what he chooses to tell people and when. I was in Military Intelligence before SHIELD and I saw first hand that the lack of communication was more of a hinderance than a help. I want to change that. It drove me crazy knowing the end game and the big picture, but I was under orders not to say anything. Believe me, Fury and I locked horns more than once on that subject."

"Glad I'm not the only one."

Maria was about to say more, but was interrupted by the elevator doors opening. She decided that the rest of the conversation could wait until later. 

The garage level was obviously where the residents of Avengers Tower kept their more expensive toys from Stark's Rolls Royce to Maria's Jeep. A line of motorcycles stretched along one wall, including Harleys, crotch rockets, and dirt bikes. 

"Natasha said you rode," Steve's voice echoed off the concrete walls.

"Not as much as I'd like," Maria grinned and watched him swing a leg over the saddle of a black Harley.

"Then hop on." He returned her smile and started the engine.

Riding behind someone on a vehicle with no steel roll cage and could tip over at any moment was an exercise in blind trust. Especially when the passenger didn't know where the hell they were going. But she'd be an idiot not to trust America's Golden Boy. Maria had seen him in action more than once, and knew he wasn't about to try anything stupid.

Riding behind Steve also gave her an ample opportunity to appreciate his physique. The white t-shirt he wore did very little to hide the play of muscles under his skin. The same went for the jeans he wore. She could easily feel the play of his glutes, quads and hamstrings through the layers of denim. It was very rare for Maria to let anyone into her personal space, much less invade theirs, but Steve was different. She trusted him, and he actually liked her.

"Here," he tugged one of her wrists until she wrapped her arm around his trim waist. "Wouldn't want you to fall off."

Oh, now that? That was one helluva smooth move. And it didn't feel coached, either. Maria smiled into the back of his shoulder, shifted closer and slid her other arm around his torso. She couldn't help but run her hand across his cobbled abs as she did so. God bless Dr. Erskine and that serum he'd concocted. 

The Harley roared up Park where they were quickly surrounded by the sounds, sights, and smells, of the City. Maria had been born and raised in Chicago, and had no trouble navigating Manhattan's network of streets, bridges, and tunnels. But that didn't mean she didn't enjoy getting away from the hustle and bustle every once in awhile. 

Once again, he seemed to read her mind as he turned off Park and onto 65th heading towards Central Park. Cool, green shade welcomed them the second the bike turned onto East Drive. It was almost as though Manhattan ceased to exist the second they crossed the threshold into the park. The cloying, choking smell of diesel exhaust and carbon monoxide gave way to a relatively cleaner and fresher scent of trees and grass.

The ride up the east side of the park was almost lazy as Steve kept the bike in second gear almost the entire time. He finally parked the bike on the north side, and waited for Maria to climb off before he retrieved two things from the saddle bags that made her raise an eyebrow: a red-and-white checkered table cloth and a brown paper sack.

"Thought maybe you were hungry," Steve said with a small smile. "I was just going to bring this up to your office, but it was too nice to sit inside and eat."

"A picnic?" a teasing eyebrow raised.

"I… uh, yeah." Steve stammered a bit and handed her the tablecloth. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Maria replied, taking the cloth with an almost distracted expression.

"Something wrong?" he asked, obviously hoping that he hadn't made a wrong call.

"Nooo…" she answered slowly. "I just honestly can't remember the last time I actually ate outside on purpose."

That brought another bashful smile to his lips, and Maria still had trouble believing that he really wanted to go out with her. If he didn't completely suck at lying, she'd almost think she was being played. But that wasn't Steve's style. Tony or Barton, maybe, but not Steve. 

"C'mon, I know the perfect spot for lunch."

Maria didn't have time to react before his hand slid into hers. Again, she couldn't help feeling that sense of attraction. She'd felt it before when he'd kissed her all those months ago, and that's what had scared her off at first. Hell, it still scared her. But she didn't say anything.

There were a few other people walking or jogging down the trail Steve led her to. His hand never left hers as they walked through the woodsy setting. Had it not been for the occasional horn honking in the distance or wail of a siren, and the obviously man-made trail, Maria would've thought they were deep in the Adirondacks somewhere. 

The sound of water tumbling over rocks further masked the sounds of the city surrounding them, and Steve led her off the beaten track for a few yards. The trees thinned out, giving way to enormous boulders bordering a hidden stream. 

"Well, um, this is it…" he said unnecessarily. 

"Nice. I like it," Maria replied and spread the tablecloth out on one of the boulders. "So, what's in the bag?"

"Oh. I found a deli around the corner from the Tower," Steve replied and waited for Maria to sit before he joined her. "They used to be everywhere in this town, but not so much anymore."

She wasn't about to apologize for tearing into the bag first. The scents from the still-warm sandwiches made her stomach rumble. 

"I didn't know what you liked, so I got you a hot roast beef and swiss on white," Steve said. "Mine's the liverwurst."

"Liverwurst? Really?" she teased and handed him the appropriate wax-paper-wrapped sandwich. "I didn't think anyone actually ate that."

"Hey. Don't knock it. I was raised on that stuff."

"So noted."

The pair ate their sandwiches and potato chips in relative silence. It really was a nice day, and she was thankful he'd insisted on getting her out of the office for a change. 

"Look, Maria, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about. Well, ask."

She had just taken a huge bite of the most delicious roast beef sandwich she'd had in a long time, and could only answer with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay," he exhaled a sigh. "Tony is having this big thing tonight. He's calling it a cookout, but we both know that won't be that simple. He's expecting all of us. The Avengers, I mean. Except that I was kinda hoping you'd go with me. As my date. It's not going to be anything fancy. At least I hope not."

"Pepper told me about it last week," Maria answered after swallowing her bite. "I got the same impression. Casual, but you never know with Tony."

"Pretty much," Steve agreed. "So, you'll go?"

Suddenly, he didn't remind her so much of the shield-slinging, bad-guy-fighting, alien-killing Avenger as he did a golden retriever puppy. The problem was, he was just as difficult to say 'no' to without feeling like she'd crushed his soul. 

Maria exhaled a sigh. It wasn't as though Pepper hadn't already added her to the guest list. So, she had already committed to going anyway. And Steve had already convinced her to at least try being a couple. Besides, wasn't that what being his girl meant?

"I'd already planned on it, but if you mean going with you as an 'us' thing, then yes. I'll go."

For a second, she honestly thought Steve was going to kiss her, and she was almost disappointed when he didn't. It would take some time for her to get used to any displays of affection, public or otherwise. Thankfully, he seemed to understand that and only acknowledged her answer with his patented boyish smile.


End file.
